Thursday, September 5, 2013

Do We Want or Need a Sequel to Nausicaä?

One of the stories that intrigues me most amongst the recent
wave of Ghibli news – much of which I will be addressing, in one form or
another, over the days to come – is talk of Hayao Miyazaki and/or Hideaki Anno
revisiting Nausicaä of the Valley of the
Wind, the iconic 1984 film that launched Studio Ghibli, established
Miyazaki as a great and popular filmmaker, and gave Anno’s young career a
rather spectacular kick-start. Various rumblings about a possible Nausicaä sequel have been heard over the
past month, given that Miyazaki’s latest (and final) film, Kaze Tachinu, serves as a reunion of sorts for him and Anno (who
voices the film’s main character, Jiro Horikoshi), but the issue was addressed
most plainly late last month, when Miyazaki, asked point blank about making a Nausicaä sequel, had
this to say:

“No, I don’t. I don’t
really feel like doing it, but Anno keeps on saying, ‘I want to do it! I want
to do it!,’ so I tell him now that I’ve come to think lately that if he wanted
to do it, it would be fine for him to do it.”

An interesting quote. A fascinating possibility to ponder. After the jump, more thoughts on this
rather provocative hypothetical...

First things first: Do I actually believe a Nausicaä sequel will ever be made? No,
probably not. Studio Ghibli does not roll that way, and never has, the closest
they have ever come to sequel territory being 2002’s The Cat Returns, which spun off a character from 1995’s Whisper of the Heart. Though even
calling it a spin-off is a bit of a stretch, as the character in question – the
Baron – appeared only in fantasy sequences in Whisper, and The Cat Returns sports
a completely different tone and even animation style from the earlier work. In
truth, Ghibli has never shown any interest in developing sequels to its films,
and has never made a movie that left itself open to sequels in the way Western
film studios often do. I feel that even if there were an impulse to make a Nausicaä sequel, it would never get past
the planning stages, as an original project would inevitably take precedence.

Case in point: Before making Kaze Tachinu, Miyazaki had spoken several times about his possible
desire to make a Porco Rosso sequel
titled The Last Sortie. It was to be
set many years after the original, reflecting the gap between the film’s 1992
release and the present day, and would, like the original, explore issues and
subject matter very near and dear to Miyazaki’s heart. While there is no
official statement I am aware of addressing the non-development of The Last Sortie nor its possible
connection to Kaze Tachinu, I think
it is a fairly easy logical jump to make to assume that Miyazaki ultimately
chose to develop a new original project, one that covered much of the same
thematic territory – Kaze Tachinu obviously
deals heavily with aviation, for starters – without doubling back on preexisting
material. And I believe that would likely be the fate of a suggested Nausicaä sequel as well; ideas would be
thrown around, but ultimately, they would be incorporated into something new.

Miyazaki is retiring from feature film work, of course, and
the dynamics of the studio could change in the process. But as he indicated in today’s
Tokyo press conference explaining the motivation behind his retirement,
Miyazaki has no plans on stepping away from Ghibli itself. “As long as I can
drive," he said at the conference, “I will be going to the studio every
day.” I find it unlikely, therefore, that the Ghibli environment would change
radically enough for a sequel to be a major priority, especially now that
Ghibli will be forced to focus on developing new voices in the wake of
Miyazaki’s retirement. And making sequels will always be counterproductive to letting new artistic voices
establish themselves.

All that being said...Miyazaki is clearly open to the idea,
and while he has made it clear he would not plan on being directly involved,
the fact that there is a respected, established filmmaker willing to make the
film in Hideaki Anno does make the Nausicaä
sequel a possibility, however minor it may be. And even as a hypothetical,
it is a notion worth discussing.

Here is the most basic question: Do we want or need a sequel
to Nausicaä? I think for many people,
the answer will be an immediate ‘yes,’ and not without good reason. Nausicaä is one of the greatest films
ever made, in any genre or medium, and it is only natural for fans to want more
of it.

But for me, that is exactly the reason why my kneejerk
reaction to the question is a rather firm ‘No.’
Nausicaä is such an overwhelming masterpiece, its style, voice, tone, and
narrative style all so utterly singular, that I cannot help but think expanding
upon it will inevitably be a reductive exercise. It is a cliché to say so, but
one that applies to this situation – there would be no way to live up to the
original, in part because the original is simply that great, and in part
because the original has had 29 years now to build a legacy in the minds of
viewers.

Moreover, I personally wonder if there is anything more that
needs saying, or any more story that needs telling, beyond what the 1984 film
provides. Miyazaki’s manga obviously continued for many years after the release
of the film, all the way up through 1994, and there is plenty of outstanding
material there that could make for a perfectly compelling feature film. But the
1984 movie nevertheless feels so utterly complete to me, so confident and
assured in what it has to say, and so satisfying and fulfilling in its
narrative, thematic, and emotional arcs. It does not end on a note of total
finality, but I think that is intrinsic to the core ideas of the picture; the
world is still a dark and broken place, even as Nausicaä has brought a modicum
of light back into it, and ending on that note helps to reinforce the film’s central
message about the importance of living and moving forward, even when hope seems
pointless. That is, after all, the gift Nausicaä has that makes her a great
leader – she recognizes the darkness of her world, and sometimes feels lost in
it herself, but has a capacity for optimism and clarity many around her lack.

In any case, I feel very strongly the world does not need a Nausicaä sequel, and while ‘want’ is a matter of purely subjective
opinion, I do not necessarily ‘want’ one either. I am happy with what we have.

Hideaki Anno, left, Hayao Miyazaki, center

All that being said, however, I would be completely open to,
and even excited by, the idea of Anno, not Miyazaki, helming the hypothetical
sequel. Miyazaki crafting a Nausicaä sequel
is something I would never have much interest in, much as I love him, for all
the reasons stated above and more. It would, in short, be retreading artistic
ground for a filmmaker who made a career out of challenging himself, and even
if he made a great film, it would not be as significant to me as a new, original
idea.

But if Anno made a Nausicaä
film? Well, that would be a whole different matter entirely. That would
automatically lend the project artistic purpose, because it would allow the
characters and mythology of Nausicaä to
be analyzed by a pair of different directorial eyes, eyes that have a strong
connection to the property, but ones that would obviously approach things
differently than the original creator.

Anno, for those who do not know, animated several of the
most complex sequences in the original Nausicaä,
most notably the ‘giant God soldier’ sequence near the end. He was only in
his twenties at his time – Miyazaki, for reference, had already had a long
career at this point, and was in his forties – and the work he did in Nausicaä launched a very successful
animation career, which included the creation and direction of the landmark
anime series Neon Genesis Evangelion, a
show partially inspired by the work he did with Miyazaki.

With that in mind, I honestly would be intrigued to see Anno’s
take on the world of Nausicaä. If he
is, as Miyazaki has indicated, eager about the prospect of a sequel, I assume
he has some narrative or artistic justification in mind, and I would like to
see what ideas he has come up with. It would not break my heart to go the rest
of my life without a Nausicaä sequel –
the original is plenty rich enough for one lifetime – but if Studio Ghibli
announced tomorrow that Anno had come on board to write and direct the
hypothetical film? I would absolutely be on board, and I would be counting down
the days until its release. Anno is a great filmmaker and animator in his own
right, and while I could not guarantee his Nausicaä
would be a creative success, it would undoubtedly be a sequel with strong
artistic intent and a clear, unique interpretation separate from the original,
and that is what I personally want out of most sequels in the first place.

So color me curious. Like I said, I have no burning desire
for more Nausicaä, but the idea of
Anno taking over the reigns is compelling. No matter what, this is an exciting
and tumultuous time for Ghibli, and as Miyazaki (and, assumedly, Isao Takahata)
takes his leave, the company is going to have to foster more voices, and bring
more people in to continue their legacy. Nausicaä
sequel or no, I think Ghibli would be wise to work with Anno in the future,
and I obviously look forward to seeing whatever ideas – hopefully and probably
original – are dreamt up in Miyazaki’s wake.

1 comment:

Honestly, a Nausicaa sequel to me is like asking for a Blade Runner sequel. Ridley wants to do it, but it really shouldn't happen. The original film was complete, a masterpiece, and said what needed to be said. A sequel doesn't need to elaborate or expand on anything. The same thing goes for Nausicaa.